About Us

Haven House's Mission and History
Haven House provides emergency housing and support services for one-parent and two-parent families with children. The shelter helps families who are homeless prepare for permanent housing by developing and promoting self-sufficiency, stability, and financial responsibility.

In addition to housing, residents receive meals, crisis counseling, assistance with goal setting and referrals to other agencies as needed.

Haven House has provided temporary shelter for homeless families since 1983. Over the years, the scope of our programs and services has increased dramatically. Not only do we support our residents with basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing, and personal needs items, but we have developed programs that will make an impact on the lives of our families after they have left our shelter.

Giving our residents the opportunity to improve their lives through goal setting, training, and education enables them to become more productive and less apt to become homeless in the future.

Haven House's Emergency Family Homeless Shelter and Programs

Haven House Shelter Statistics for 2017

Shelter nights provided: 9,412

Adults provided shelter: 166

Children provided shelter: 285

Families provided shelter: 121

Families in Partners in Progress program: 57

Children in Partners in Progress program 148

Families in Adopt-A-Family Christmas program: 112

Children in Adopt-A-Family Christmas program: 288

Children in Adopt-A-Child Back-to-School program: 148

During their stay in our shelter, residents engage in our Rapid Rehousing program, with a goal to move into permanent housing, within a sustainable budget, as quickly as possible. Meanwhile,our Family Life program offers enriching classes and activites for adults and kids, and provides assistance with back-to-school and holiday gifts. While in shelter, staff members meet daily with residents to discuss progress in finding permanent housing and provide advice in dealing with landlords and local agencies. Residents develop personal budgets that are realistic and goal plans that are productive. Staff members meet with residents once a week to develop a Weekly Plan which includes plans for seeking housing and meeting personal and financial needs.

Many volunteers help in the office, provide activities for children and families, and handle many other tasks to assist residents and ex-residents and help the shelter run smoothly. This includes our tutoring program helps children maintain educational progress during a time of family crisis. Upon exiting, our residents receive an "exit bucket" filled with cleaning supplies and personal needs items. They may also receive a Food Bank box of food to help them get established. Local schools work closely with us on getting our children enrolled in school or keeping them in their former school. We expect all school-age children to attend school every day.

Once families reach their new permanent home, our Partners in Progress (PIP) program provides follow-up care for up to a year. Through engagement in the PIP program, we know that more than 91% of Haven House families are able to remain stably housed in their new home for at least a year after leaving our temporary shelter. The PIP program is a transitional housing program that assists families after they leave the shelter. A staff member works with the former residents to set realistic goals and monitor progress in employment, budgeting, arranging childcare, improving parenting skills, and connecting with the neighborhood and the community. Our goal is to build strong families, increase employment success and prevent future homelessness. For some background the effects of homelessness on families and children, view this article from the Family Housing Fund.